LIVONIA, Mich., Nov. 15 -- Valassis, the leading company in marketing services and Connective Media (TM), announced that it had purchased software from Media Passage to merge into its existing software tool for on-line newspaper media planning and purchasing. The merged systems will create the industry's largest newspaper database, with the complete capability for clients to plan, quote and place their newspaper media advertising with the ease of a simple on-line tool. The service will be called Valassis Media Passage. "In today's fast-paced media world, clients need the ability to act quickly when placing their advertising. They already know that there is no better company than Valassis from which to buy newspaper space, whether it's inserts or ROP. Now, they can do it more efficiently than ever,'' said Mary Ann D. Rivers, Executive Vice President of Valassis Targeted Print & Media Solutions. "We see this as a responsive action to meet the emerging need of our clients to place more last-minute business. They can get it fast, and trust the accuracy and knowledge that went into building our system.'' The company has offered on-line media planning for over a year. Advertising and promotion agencies look to Valassis as specialists in newspapers, and rely on their ability to plan and place a newspaper ad campaign quickly, accurately and cost-effectively. The Valassis Media Passage system will include planning functions such as demographic and geographic targeting, a complete, instantaneous quoting system, placement and back-end tracking tools.